Pessimist - S/T
(Blackest Ever Black)

Pessimist is a Bristol-based producer inhabiting the spartan territory between drum 'n' bass and techno and this is his first album (the culmination of nearly a decade of collective research and development in underground drum'n'bass).  Personally, I find it impossible to think of any producer, past or present, who has so skillfully and successfully bridged the sonics and sensibilities of d'n'b and techno.  Pessimist though, seems to make d'n'b work as techno: combining the monotone, infinite-horizon quality of the latter with the rhythmic swerve and soundsystem heft of the former. This is dark music for dark times - all chest-crushing bass and muscular rhythm twists - interlaced with spooky, windswept, misty estuary ambiance.
Blackest Ever Black's description is that this is: "like the missing link between British Murder Boys and Source Direct, or what might have happened if late '90s UK jungle-ists had listened more closely to Chain Reaction."  They are not that far off the mark.  It's beastly, bruised, and slightly bent, featuring gusting drones and breezy breaks.  Harrowing hardcore that touches on the ghosts of the past but, more importantly, draws from the relentlessly noir, paranoid, smoked-out dubscape of present-day Bristol.  
The album is an exemplary exercise in ruthless restraint and maximilist minimalism, and the resultant tension is very, very effective. There's nothing quite like this out there at the moment. And that's a good reason for your investigation. Very highly recommended. (Lee)
Check out a track here.